Sunday, February 22, 2015

Pre-deployment

The time has come for deployment! We've been expecting and waiting for this for quite some time and it's a little scary now that it's finally here. Throughout this very different time in our lives I'm going to try to update and post some experiences on the subject.

This is our very first deployment, so I'm going to put this out there now that I am clearly NOT an expert at anything deployment, I just want to share my experience for any other military wives or girlfriends that may want to listen.

Today I'm going to post some things we did to prepare for the big day. Again, I'm new to this, so if anyone has any other tips to add I would love to hear! Some of these will have a blog post of their very own coming soon :)

1. Get all of your important paper work and resources together and create a deployment binder

2. Make sure you have all of the contacts you might need while he is gone.

3. Plan how you're going to use the extra money that comes in during deployment. Whether it's paying off debt, paying off a car, or saving it for something special, you both want to be on the same page about where that money is going to go.

4. Prep the house and cars for when he leaves. For us this included making sure my car had any maintenance done that it needed. Zach filled his tank up halfway and added fuel stabilizer so that it will be okay sitting for a long period of time, and we planned out how often I need to start it up and let it run. He also cleaned up the yard and made sure I was prepared for any crazy weather (like the blizzard we're having right now).

5. Make sure you have his address where he can receive mail. I'm looking forward to posting some care package ideas!

6. Plan how you're going to communicate. Zach disconnected his phone for when he's overseas, but will be buying an internet pass each month in order to Skype, message, and do anything for himself for entertainment. He set up my Skype and we also downloaded the hangouts app to message each other. There are a lot of different options for internet, so make sure to look around.

7. Plan something to do together. Zach and I decided on a couple of different bible studies and books to go through together so that we can stay connected and have something extra to talk about and stay close. We also decided to send letters to each other even though we will probably be able to communicate pretty often.

8. Make any changes necessary while he's gone. For us, we disconnected his phone, changed his car insurance since his truck won't be used, and also made sure the bank and other companies we use have the power of attorney so I can take care of things while he's gone.

9. Make sure he has everything that he needs to bring packed up. There are going to be some things that will be bought once he gets there. Zach got a couple of things ahead of time including sheets, power converters for his chargers, soaps/shampoos/other hygiene products, extra clothes, books, music, movies, etc.

10. Last, but not least, spend a lot of quality time together! If able, go out on a couple more date nights than normal, find some fun adventures to go on together, treasure each hug and kiss, pray together, create some great memories that you will have for when he's gone!